@Hamurtle I looked at UWashington entering class, and their average GPA was around a 3.75 and SAT middle 50% was between 1320-1460 for OOS residents. How would it be a massive reach?
@Knowsstuff in your opinion, how much does the fact that I have programmed some apps help? Where would that rank with my current extracurricular activities? And thank you for the advice!
If you are considering Computer Science at UDub, it’s one of the top programs and is extremely difficult to get into as it’s a direct admission. You will need close to 4.0 UW and 1500+ SAT to be considered for admission.
Work on your essays - yes, all can be reaches, but my son was accepted to both UofM OOS and UChicago. His stats were a bit higher than yours, but I think his essays and his EC’s were what got him in. He was involved in a few clubs at school that interested him, but did most of his EC’s on his own in an area that he was passionate about - so yes, list those apps there. His application told the AC who he was, what he was interested in and how he would fit into the school.
@caymusjordan that’s awesome for you son! Would you mind sharing his EC’s that got him in?
@“nick.celotto” there’s no magic formula. What someone else did doesn’t apply to you. Yes, programming is a plus. How did you learn what Language is a nice self starter. You will be up against kids that not only made apps but are selling them on Apple /Play store. It doesn’t make your projects any less. Is there a theme to your apps? Is there a social justice leaning? Or are you just screwing around with Arduino to learn how to program? It’s all good. The colleges want to know what your doing with your free time. If your doing something you really enjoy and the answer is not “nothing” then your good.
You play piano by ear or teach yourself plus programing by yourself… So your are really a self starter. That’s good. UChicago looks for kids that think next level/ different. I agree with the Sat to get it into the 1490/1520 range to be competitive .
Essay is key. Spend time on it.
Northwestern is also a hard get… Apply early and decide which school you would apply ED to like Northwestern.
Building an app is an EC that lots of HS students- including plenty who are not applying for CS!- have. It is also, in itself, a difficult one for an AdComm to assess. It’s self-reported and there isn’t much in the way of useful metrics. How do they know how good an app it is? How do they know the level of expertise involved in building your app? Remember that the AO reader is probably not spending more than 15 minutes reading your entire file (likely less)- including your essays, LoRs, transcript, ECs- everything. How many of those minutes will be spent figuring out just what that app says about you / your application?
ps, making @Hamurtle’s point more explicitly, the stats for direct admission to CS at UWa are higher than for general admission to the University.
@Hamurtle @collegemom3717 I know CS at UW is very good, but is it really THAT good? Worth being almost as hard to get into as an ivy tier school?
CS at most Big Ten schools would be excellent. Don’t kid yourself. I would keep these as reaches and start to work on your safeties list.
With your current list you have the possibility of being completely shut out. I am not being rude just realistic. Make sure your list are schools you can afford. Many kids are going to Alabama for the merit. They are coming out with jobs at known companies.
@Knowsstuff @Hamurtle @collegemom3717 @caymusjordan and everyone else. How would you rank my extracurriculars as a whole? Are they average for the schools that I’m looking at, below average, or above average? Just looking for some more feedback 
And also, based on my extracurriculars, would it make sense for me to apply with a different intended major? Or would it not make much of a difference?
Based on your stats, I’ll rank in order of difficulty of acceptance at UMich only:
- Ross Business Preferred Admission (must choose a home school, like LSA or CoE)
- Computer Science via CoE
- Computer Science via LSA
The OOS acceptance rate for the Class of 2022 was 19%. LSA is easier, but not easy, CoE is more difficult and Ross may be the most difficult, in terms of acceptance.
Right now I only see two “likely” schools on your list: U Washington and UConn. I am basing UW on the info you reported. The rest of your schools are a combination of matches/high matches, reaches, and high reaches. Keep in mind that “match” does not mean acceptance. I will speak on behalf of UNC as an OOS student.
Your academics are very good but on the low side for OOS. This doesn’t mean that students with your numbers (or lower) don’t get accepted…they do…but there is usually some kind of interesting story or EC involved. Your overall profile, despite being very good, is not a standout for this school. Remember…the law states that 82% of students must be from NC. Has UNC taken students from your HS in the past? Your Pilgram Fellowship sounds interesting…UNC is very much into community service and giving back. Can you elaborate on this EC?
You have leadership roles which is good. Just do stuff that you enjoy. Don’t worry about what you don’t have. What you have is fine. This isn’t something you rank per se. Your ec won’t get you in or keep you out of any school.
@twogirls UCONN is basically a shoe in (I’m in state). And isn’t that a good thing? Maybe add one big safety, and then a bunch of matches and reaches? And yeah for pilgrim fellowship, it’s a community service group that meets once a week and we do service around our community, then one week in April we go to a different location every year (last year was Tennessee), and we build rooms, porches, etc for the needy. I also do an Appalachia Trip for 10 days in the summer where we go to Kentucky and do the same for the poor. I’m thinking about writing about the Kentucky trips as my common app essay. Do you think my extracurriculars are good enough for schools at this caliber? And I’m going to take the SAT again (trying to reach a 1500).
Usually you are competing with other applicants from your school and region. Overall SAT GPA averages really don’t matter if 10 kids from your own school have better stats than you do and are applying to the same schools.
Try to think of something more unique to write about than an ASP trip. Too many kids write that essay.
Yes I agree UConn is a safety and if you would be happy to attend…then you have identified an outstanding option. I can’t chance you…besides telling you that you have a bunch of reaches. All I can say is to focus on your essays and apply. Personally, I think the Pilgram Fellowship could be interesting if it’s well written. Good luck!
I agree with Hamurtle in post #18 that the CS dept at the University of Washington would be a reach; I have read that some students have chosen UW over UCB for CS. A close to perfect score on the SAT subject test in Math II might be very helpful if you are applying as a CS major and to augment your current SAT score; the regular deadline for the October subject tests is September 6. Your ECs are fine; most schools are not looking for just a list of ECs, but some do want to see that you have contributed to your community and if you could demonstrate how these ECs have helped YOU (character building, for example). As others have said, the essays are very important.
Regarding UVA, getting admitted as a non-legacy OOS applicant is selectivity equivalent to low Ivy (like Cornell). UNC is even tougher, since the OOS slots are limited to 18% of seats (vs. 33% at UVA). UMich is the easiest to get into of those three OOS (since UMich is so much bigger and the OOS percentage is about 50%). But still hard. And UMich business or UMich engineering are harder than history.
Having said all that, your best chance at the listed schools is to apply ED. So go ED to NW (50% of seats filled via ED) or Cornell (38% of seats).
UVA just started ED this year, so that’s a possibility too. But obviously there’s no data/experience/track record on how ED at UVA is going to work.
Good luck.